Making the Shift to a Green Economy

A Common Platform of the Green Economy Network

As members of Canadian-based labour, environmental and social justice organizations we have come together to form a common front for the building of a green economy in Canada. We have done so, recognizing that we are living in one of those critical moments of human history wherein decisions must be made that will ultimately affect our destiny as a people, a nation, and the planet.

We maintain that, if the plan of action outlined below were to be fully enacted during the coming decade, Canada would be well on the road to creating over two million new person job years and reducing our total national greenhouse gas emissions by over 100 million tonnes a year by 2025 which represents a substantial contribution towards our overall emissions reductions. Moreover, these initiatives would generate opportunities for the transition towards a more equitable as well as a more sustainable economy.

Introduction

Canada is still recovering from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Unemployment and underemployment in precarious jobs remains very high. Policy measures which de-industrialized the Canadian economy in favour of a resource-based economy are proving short-sighted in the aftermath of the collapse of the price of oil. This economic crisis is compounded by an environment and climate crisis which threatens the future of the planet.

In turn, this environment crisis is further reinforced by an emerging energy crisis. What’s more, our economy and society are further plagued by an equity crisis marked by increasing inequalities and divisions amongst race and class. We can no longer afford an economic model that treats the planet and people as disposable goods. We believe the time has come to chart a new economic model, one that requires a fundamental transformation in the way we produce, transport and consume goods. We need a new industrial strategy for this country. We need to rethink the way we construct buildings, produce products and generate energy. We need to rethink the way we transport ourselves, move goods, fuel industries, and heat our homes and businesses, while ensuring there is affordable green energy for all. We need to foster local sustainableeconomies, provide equitable job opportunities and contribute our fair share to efforts that reduce environmental and social harm internationally. In doing so, we will help break our addiction to fossil fuels and overcome persistent poverty and inequalities. In short, we must build a green economy and society that transforms the mode of production and consumption, ensures energy is available and affordable, and makes the jobs we have more environmentally sustainable, while simultaneously creating new decent paying green jobs and providing just transition programs.

Better municipal transit creates jobs, cuts greenhouse gases

Canada has long history of manufacturing high quality transit equipment in many parts of the country. There are active manufacturers if city buses in Manitoba and Quebec. In particular, New Flyer in Winnipeg builds environmentally-positive hybrid and electric buses.

In another example, an extensive rapid transit plan in the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario is expected to produce $296 million in user benefits over 30 years, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 14,000 tonnes annually by 2031, generate over 6,000 jobs, and reduce health care costs in the region by $10 million.